"<$e$es$C 


This  600^  has  been 
digitized  through 
the  generosity  of 

Robert  O.  Blissard 
Class  of  1957 


1 


University  of  Illinois  Library  at  Urbana-Champaign 


THE   STORY 

OF     THE 

"GENERAL" 


18    6   2 


IE  ••GENERAL"  AS    IT  STANDS   TODAY  IN    UNION    DEPOT,  CHATTANOOGA,  TENN. 
BUILT     BY    ROGERS     LOCOMOTIVE    WORKS     IN     1855. 


Issued  by 

The  Passenger  Departments 

of  the 

Nashville,  Chattanooga  d  St.  Louis  Railway 

and  the 

Western  <S  Atlantic  Railroad 


W.  L.  DANLEY,  G.   P.  A.  .  .  Nashville,  Tenn. 

NASHVILLE,     CHATTANOOGA    &    ST.    LOUIS    R'Y 

C.  E.  HARMAN,  G.  P.  A.  Atlanta,  Ga. 

WESTERN     &    ATLANTIC    RAILROAD 

H.   F.  SMITH,  ....         Nashville.  Tenn. 

VICE-PRESIDENT   ASM)   TRAFFIC    MANAGER. 


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The  "General"  now 
in  the  Union  Depot 
Chattanooga,  Tenn. 


THE  engine  "GENERAL,"  made 
famous  by  the  "Andrews  Raid- 
ers," has  been  sent  to  Chatta- 
nooga, Tenn.,  by  the  Nashville,  Chat- 
tanooga &  St.  Louis  Railway,  and 
given  a  prominent  place  in  the  Union 
Depot.  It  is  there  to  remain  perma- 
nently, as  a  monument  to  American 
valor,  and  can  be  seen  at  any  time 
by  travelers  passing  through  Chatta- 
nooga over  this  railway. 


Additional  copies  of  this  pamphlet  can 
be  secured  by  writing  to 

W.   L.   DANLEY, 

General  Passenger  Agent 

Nashville,  Chattanooga  &  St.  Louis  R'y. 

Nashville,  Tenn. 

or 

C.   E.   HARMAN, 

General    Passenger    Agent, 

Western  &  Atlantic  Railroad, 

Atlanta,   Ga. 


TABLET    ERECTEO    BY    THE    N..  C.   &    ST.   I.   RY..    IN    FRONT    OF    ENGINE 
■•GENERAL"   IN    UNION     DEPOT.  CHATTANOOGA     TENN. 


»SH\ll    t    ERJCE    CO..    I  ASMV;L--E-25M-4-1  J-09 


JAS.   J.   ANDREWS,  of  Flemingsburg,   Ky.,   Leader 

of  the  Andrews    Raiding  Party. 

Executed  in  Atlanta,   Ga.,  June  7,  1862. 


^*V 


CAPT.   W.  A.   FULLER,   Conductor  on  W.  &  A.  Train  from 

Atlanta  to  Chattanooga,  Which  Was  Stolen  at  Big  Shanty, 

Ga.,    April    12,    1862,    by    the    Andrews     Raiders. 

Died  in   Atlanta,   Ga.,   Dec.   28,    1905. 


TME  CAPTURE  OF  A  LOCOMOTIVE 


A  BRILLIANT  EXPLOIT  Of  THE  WAR 


TWENTY  minutes  for  breakfast." 
Nothing  particularly  interesting  about  the  old 
familiar  cry,  but  when  on  a  bright  April  day,  in 
1862,  the  train  man  sang  out:  "Big  Shanty,  twenty 
minutes  for  breakfast,"  the  hearts  of  a  score  of  brave 
men  beat  faster,  as  they  knew  the  hour  had  come  for 
the  beginning  of  one  of  the  grandest  exploits  in 
history. 

The  men,  from  their  dress,  were  citizens,  and  had 
boarded  the  northbound  train  at  Marietta,  a  pretty 
little  Georgia  town  twenty  miles  north  of  Atlanta. 
They  paid  their  fares  to  different  points,  and  from  the 
conversation  one  would  suppose  that  they  were  refu- 
gees from  the  Yankees,  but  in  reality  they  were  dis- 
guised soldiers  of  the  U.  S.  Army  under  command  of 
General  Mitchell,  then  in  Middle  Tennessee,  bound 
South. 

They  were  volunteers  to  do  a  dangerous  work, 
and  were  to  get  through  the  country  as  best  they 
could  to  Marietta,  then  board  a  train  bound  for 
Chattanooga,  and,  at  Big  Shanty,  seven  miles  away, 
while  the  train  crew  and  passengers  were  at  break- 
fast, detach  the  engine,  run  north,  obstruct  the  track, 
cut  the  wires  and  burn  bridges,  of  which  there  were 
fifteen  between  Big  Shanty  and  Chattanooga.  This 
was  the  brilliant  scheme ;  how  well  it  was  carried  out 
is  related  in  the  following  story : 

On  the  morning  of  the  12th  of  April,  1862,  Capt. 
W.  A.  Fuller  left  Atlanta  at  6  o'clock  in  charge  of  the 
passenger  train,  having  three  empty  freight  cars  next 
to  the  engine,  which  were  intended  to  bring  commis- 
sary stores  from  Chattanooga  to  Atlanta.  When  he 
reached  Marietta,  twenty  miles  distant  from  Atlanta, 
a  considerable  party  of  strangers,  dressed  in  citizen's 
clothes,  got  on  board  and  paid  their  fares,  some  to 
one  point  and  some  to  another.  They  all  claimed  to 
be  refugees  from  within  the  Yankee  lines,  desirous 
of  joining  the  Confederate  army. 

Seven  miles  from  Marietta,  at  Big  Shanty,  the 
train  stopped  for  breakfast.  Most  of  the  passengers 
and  train's  crew  went  to  the  breakfast  house,  which 
was  situated  some  forty  feet  from  the  track.  At  this 
time  Big  Shanty  was  the  location  of  a  camp  of  in- 
struction, called 

CAMP    M  DONALD, 

and  there  were  about  three  thousand  Confederate 
recruits  there  at  the  time,  being  drilled  ready  to 
send  to  the  front  for  active  service.     The  pas?enger= 


The  Story  of  the  "General. 


had  taken  seats  at  the  table,  Capt.  Fuller  was  sitting 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  table  from  the  railroad, 
and  facing  the  train.  He  saw  through  the  window 
some  of  the  strangers  who  got  on  at  Marietta  get  on 
the  engine  in  an  excited  manner  and 

START    OFF    RAPIDLY, 

with  the  three  freight  cars  detached  from  the  pas- 
senger train.  He  remarked  to  his  engineer,  Mr.  Jeff 
Cain,  and  to  Mr.  Anthony  Murphy,  who  was  present, 
and  at  that  time  foreman  of  the  Western  &  Atlan- 
tic Railroad  shops :  "Some  one  who  has  no  right 
to  do  so  has  gone  off  with  our  train."  All  three 
arose  and  hurried  out  of  the  house  just  as  the  en- 
gine passed  out  of  sight. 

Some  deserters  had  been  reported  as  having  left 
Camp  McDonald,  and  the  Commanding  Officer  had 
requested  Capt.  Fuller  to  look  out  for  them  and  ar- 
rest any  soldiers  who  attempted  to  get  on  his  train 
without  a  passport.  No  one  had  any  idea  that  the 
parties  in  possession  of  the  engine  were  Federals, 
but  supposed  that  it  had  been  taken  by  parties  de- 
siring to  desert  Camp  McDonald,  and  who  would 
run  off  a  short  distance  and  abandon  it. 

Captain  Fuller,  Murphy  and  Cain  left  Big  Shanty 
with  a  clear  and  well-defined  motive  and  a  fixed 
determination  to  recapture  the  engine,  no  matter 
who  the  parties  were.     They  started  out 

ON   FOOT   AND  ALONE, 

nothing  daunted  in  putting  muscle  in  competition 
with  steam.  Captain  Fuller  outran  his  companions 
and  soon  reached  Moon's  Station,  two  miles  from 
Big  Shanty.  Here  he  learned  from  the  track  men 
that  the  men  with  the  engine  stopped  and  took  their 
tools  from  them  by  force.  They  reported  that  on 
the  engine  and  in  the  freight  cars  there  were  twenty- 
four  or  twenty-five  men,  and  that  while  some  of  the 
men  gathered  the  tools,  others  climbed  the  telegraph 
poles  and  cut  the  wires  in  two  places,  carrying  away 
about  one  hundred  yards  of  the  wire.  This  state- 
ment satisfied  Captain  Fuller  that  these  men  were 
Federals  in  disguise.  This  added  new  stimulus  to 
his  resolve.  The  determination  then  was  not  only 
to  capture  his  engine,  but  the  Federals. 

With  the  assistance  of  the  track  hands,  he  placed 
on  the  track  a  hand  car,  such  as  is  used  to  haul 
crossties  and  tools,  and  pushed  back  for  his  engineer, 
when  he  soon  met  Messrs.  Murphy  and  Cain. 

Knowing  the  schedules,  grades,  stations  and  dis- 
tances so  well,  he  was  confident  that  by  using  great 
effort  he  could  reach  Etowah  River  by  the  time  the 
fugitives  could  reach  Kingston.  At  Kingston  he 
knew  they  would  have  to  contend  with  a  number  of 


t 


REV.  WILLIAM  PITTENGER,  Sergeant   Company 

G,  2d  Ohio  Infantry,  member  of  the  Andrews 

Raiding  Party. 

Died  in  Fallbrook,   Cal.,  April   24,   1904. 


WILLIAM    KNIGHT,   Private,    Company   E,   21st 

Ohio   Infantry,   member  of  the  Andrews 

Raiding    Party. 

Now   living  in    Stryker,   Ohio. 


The  Story  of  the  "General. 


freight  trains,  which  would  necessarily  detain  them 
several  minutes. 

As  soon  as  he  got  Mr.  Murphy  and  Mr.  Cain  on 
board,  he  told  them  his  plan  was  to  push  on  to  Eto- 
wah as  quickly  as  possible,  for  there  he  hoped  to 
get  old  "Yonah,"  an  engine  used  at  Cooper's  Iron 
Works,  and  his  plan  proved  successful.  In  the  "rapid 
transit"  by  hand  car,  Captain  Fuller.  Mr.  Murphy 
and  Mr.  Cain  took  turns  in  pushing, 

TWO    RUNNING    OX    FOOT 

and  pushing,  while  the  other  rested;  one  mile  from 
Moon's  Station  they  found  a  large  pile  of  crossties 
on  the  track — placed  there  by  the  fugitives  to  ob- 
struct pursuit.  The  obstructions  were  removed,  and 
they  pushed  on  to  Acworth.  Here  they  pressed  into 
service  such  guns  as  they  could  find,  and  were  joined 
by  two  citizens,  Mr.  Smith,  of  Tonesboro,  and  Mr. 
Steve  Stokely,  of  Cobb  County,  who  rendered  valu- 
able service  in  the  subsequent  pursuit.  Resuming 
their  journey  they  found  no  obstructions  until  they 
reached  a  short  curve  two  miles  from  Etowah.  Here 
two  rails  from  the  outside  of  the  curve  had  been 
taken  up.  The  result  was  the  hand-car  was  ditched. 
In  a  few  seconds  Captain  Fuller  and  his  men  had 
the  car  on  the  track 

BEYOND    THE   BREAK, 

and  with  renewed  energy  and  determination  they 
pushed  on  to  Etowah,  where,  to  their  great  joy. 
they  found  the  engine,  as  they  supposed  they  would. 
And  yet  it  appeared  a  slim  chance.  The  engine  was 
standing  on  the  side-track  with  the  tender  on  the 
turn-table.  The  tender  was  turned  around  and 
pushed  to  the  engine  and  a  coal  car  attached.  Some 
six  or  eight  Confederate  soldiers  volunteered  in  the 
chase  and  took  passage  in  the  coal  car.  From  Eto- 
wah to   Kingston  Captain  Fuller  ran  at  the  rate  of 

SIXTY    MILES    PER    HOUR. 

and  found  that  the  fugitives  had  passed  by.  A 
large  number  of  freight  trains  had  pulled  by 
station  so  as  to  let  the  fugitives  out  at  the  further 
end  of  the  track.  The  agent  informed  Captain  Ful- 
ler that  the  leader  of  the  fugitives  claimed  to  be 
a  Confederate  officer  who  had  impressed  the  train 
at  Big  Shanty  and  the  three  cars  were  loaded 
fixed  ammunition  for  General  Beauregard  at  Cor- 
inth. Captain  Fuller,  he  said,  was  behind  with  the 
regular  passenger  train.  He  insisted  that  the  agent 
should  let  him  have  a  switch  key  and  instruct  the 
conductors  of  the  down  trains  to  pull  by  and  get  out 
of  his  way,  as  it  was  important  for  him  to  go  on  to 


The  Story  of  the  "  General r." 


Chattanooga  and  Corinth  as  rapidly  as  possible.  So 
authoritative  was  he  in  his  demands,  and  so  plausi- 
ble in  his  speech,  that  the  agent,  a  patriotic  man, 
believing  his  story,  carried  out  his  request,  and  so  the 
fugitives,  by  the  finesse  of  their  leader,  passed  by 
one  great  obstruction.  The  freight  trains  were 
gathered  here,  and  so  heavy  to  move,  that  had  Cap- 
tain Fuller  stopped  to  get  them  out  of  his  way, 
to  pass,  his  delay  would  have  been  too  long.  Find- 
ing that  he  could  not  pass  with  old  "Yonah,"  he 
abandoned  it.  The  Rome  engine  was  on  the  "Y," 
headed  for  Chattanooga,  with  one  car  attached.  He 
immediately  took  possession  of  it,  and  continued  the 
chase  with  all  who  would  volunteer  to  go  with  him. 
He   had   not   proceeded    far  before  he   found   cross- 


TABLET  ERECTED  BY  N.,  C.  &  ST.  L.  RY.,  MARKING  THE 
SPOT    AT    WHICH    THE    ENGINE    "GENERAL"    WAS 
CAPTURED     BY     THE     "ANDREWS      RAIDERS." 
SIMILAR     TABLET     HAS    BEEN     ERECTED 
MARKING     THE     SPOT     AT     WHICH 
THE    "GENERAL"    WAS     ABAN- 
DONED. 

ties  on  the  track  every  two  or  three  hundred  yards. 
After  passing  Kingston  the  fugitives  punched  out  the 
end  of  the  rear  car,  which  enabled  them  to  drop  out 
ties  without  slacking  up.  Captain  Fuller  was  forced 
to  lose  time  in  stopping  to  remove  these  obstruc- 
tions. Laboring  under  these  disadvantages  the  pur- 
suers redoubled  their  energy  and  proceeded  to 
Adairsville.  When  he  reached  a  point  four  miles 
from  Adairsville  he  found  sixty  yards  of  track  torn 
up,  and 


WILLIAM  BENSINGER,  Private,  Company  G,  2ist 
Ohio  Infantry,  member  of  the  Andrews 
Raiding   Party. 
Now   living  in  McComb,   Ohio. 


DANIEL  A.    DORSEY,    Corporal,   Company 

Ohio   Infantry,   member   of  the   Andrews 

Raiding   Party. 

Now   living  in    Enid,    Okla. 


The  Story  of  the  "General:' 


11 


SET    OUT   ON    FOOT, 

calling  on  his  men  to  follow.  When  he  had  gone  half 
a  mile  he  looked  back  and  saw  none  but  Anthony 
Murphy  following  him.     He  made  two  miles  as 

QUICK   AS   HE  COULD  RUN, 

and  met  the  express  freight.  Having  a  gun  and 
knowing  the  signal,  the  engineer  recognized  Cap- 
tain Fuller  and  stopped  the  train  immediately. 
Knowing  that  Mr.  Murphy  was  only  a  short  dis- 
tance behind,  the  train  was  detained  until  he  came 


3 


MONUMENT     IN     NATIONAL     CEMETERY,     CHATTANOOGA,     ERECTED 
BY   THE   ANDREWS'    RAIDERS   TO   THEIR   FALLEN    COMRADES. 

up.  He  then  took  a  position  at  the  rear  end  of  the 
train,  twenty  car  lengths  from  the  engine,  and 

STARTED    BACKWARD 

in  the  direction  of  Adairsville,  without  taking  time 
to  explain  to  the  engineer  or  conductor.  When  he 
got  within  two  hundred  yards  of  the  switch  at 
Adairsville,  Captain  Fuller  jumped  off  the  train, 
ran  ahead  and  changed  the  switch  so  as  to  throw 
the  cars  on  the  side  track.  He  accomplished  this, 
changed  the  switch  to  the  main  track  and  jumped 
on  the   engine  which  had  been  uncoupled  from  the 


The  Bast  and  West  of  Alabama  and  the  Marietta  a 


The  red  line  shcr 


of  the  "General, 
at  a  point  about  half  way  bei 


or.th  Georgia  railroads  have  been  built  since  the  -war. 

It  was  captured  at  Big  Shanty   and  abandoned 
jen  Ringgold  and  Graysville. 


14  The  Story  of  the  "General" 

train.  This  feat  was  accomplished  so  quickly  that 
the  train  and  engine 

RAN    SIDE   BY    SIDE 

for  fully  three  hundred  yards.  He  now  had  only  the 
engine  with  the  following  crew:  A.  Murphy,  Peter 
Bracken,  the  engineer;  Fleming  Cox,  the  fireman, 
and  Alonzo  Martin,  wood-passer.  He  resumed  the 
chase,  making  Calhoun,  ten  miles  distant,  in  twelve 
minutes.  As  he  approached  Calhoun,  Captain  Fuller 
recognized  the  telegraph  operator,  from  Dalton,  a 
lad  twelve  years  old.  The  operator  also  recognized 
Captain  Fuller,  and  as  the  engine  passed  by  at  the 
rate  of 

FIFTEEN   MILES   PER   HOUR 

grasped  Captain  Fuller's  hand  held  out  to  him,  and 
was  safely  landed  on  the  engine.  The  operator  hav- 
ing discovered  that  the  wire  had  been  cut,  made  his 
way  down  to  Calhoun,  looking  for  the  break.  As 
they  sped  along  backwards  as  fast  as  an  engine 
with  five  feet  ten  inch  wheels  could  possibly  run, 
Captain  Fuller  wrote  the  following  telegram  to 
General  Ledbetter,  then  in  command  at  Chattanooga : 
"My  train  was  captured  this  a.m.,  at  Big  Shanty, 
evidently  by  Federal  soldiers  in  disguise.  They  are 
making  rapidly  for  Chattanooga,  possibly  with  an 
idea  of  burning  the  railroad  bridges  in  their  rear.  If 
I  do  not  capture  them  in  the  meantime,  see  that 
they  do  not  pass  Chattanooga."  Captain  Fuller's 
desire  now  was  to  reach  Dalton  and  send  the  tele- 
gram before  the  fugitives  could  cut  the  wire  beyond 
Dalton.     Two  miles  beyond  Calhoun 

THE   FUGITIVES   WERE   SIGHTED  FOR  THE  FIRST  TIME, 

and  from  their  movements  they  were  evidently 
greatly  excited.  They  detached  one  of  their  freight 
cars  and  left  it  at  the  spot  where  they  were  dis- 
covered. They  had  partially  taken  up  a  rail,  but 
that  or  the  car  did  not  detain  Captain  Fuller.  He 
coupled  the  car  to  the  engine  without  stopping,  got 
on  top  of  the  freight  car  and  gave  signals  to  the 
engineer  by  which  he  could  run,  as  the  car  in  front 
obscured  his  view.  Two  and  a  half  miles  farther 
Captain  Fuller  came  across  another  freight  car  which 
the  fugitives  had  detached.  As  before,  he  coupled 
this  on  without  stopping,  and  pushed  on  to  Resaca, 
where  he  switched  the  two  cars  off  on  the  siding. 
Again  he  started  with  an  engine  only.  Two  miles 
north  of  Resaca,  while  standing  on  the  rear  of  the 
tender,  he  discovered  in  a  short  curve  a  T-rail  di- 
agonally 

ACROSS    THE    TRACK, 

and  being  too  close  to  stop,  the  engine  went  over  it 
at  the  rate  of  fifty-five  miles  an  hour.     After  this, 


JACOB  PARROTT,  Private,  Company  K,  33d  Ohio 

Infantry,   member   of   the   Andrews 

Raiding  Party. 

Now  living  in  Kenton,  Ohio. 


JOHN  R.  PORTER,  Private,  Company  G,  21st  Ohio 

Infantry,  member  of  the  Andrews 

Raiding   Party. 

Now  living  in  Windfall,  Ind. 


16  The  Story  of  the  "General  " 

until  they  reached  Dalton,  only  occasionally  were  ob- 
structions met  with.  At  Dalton  he  dropped  the  tele- 
graph operator  with  instructions  to  put  through  the 
telegram  at  all  hazards,  and  continued  the  chase. 
Two  miles  beyond  he  overtook  the  fugitives 

TEASING    UP    THE    TRACK 

in  plain  view  of  Col.  Jesse  A.  Glenn's  regiment, 
camped  near  by.  They  cut  the  telegraph  wire  just 
after  the  Dalton  operator  had  flashed  Captain  Ful- 
ler's telegram  over  it,  preventing  him  from  receiv- 
ing the  usual  acknowledgment  from  Chattanooga. 
The  fugitives  resumed  their  flight,  and  never,  per- 
haps, -did  two  engines  with  five  feet  ten  inch  wheels 
make  faster  time  than  the  pursued  and  the  pursuer. 
The  fugitives  had  the  advantage,  from  the  fact  that 
the  "General,"  a  "Rogers,"  was  headed  for  Chatta- 
nooga, while  the  "Texas,"  a  "Danforth  and  Cook," 
engine,  was  running  backward. 

The  fifteen  miles  to  Ringgold  and  three  miles 
beyond  was  made  in  less  time  than  Captain  Fuller 
ever  made  the  same  distance  in  twenty-two  years' 
experience  as  a  conductor.  Half  way  between  Ring- 
gold and  Graysville  he  got  within  one-quarter  of 
a  mile  of  the  fugitives,  who,  being  so  closely  pressed, 
set  their  only  remaining 

FREIGHT    CAR    ON    FIRE 

with  a  view  of  cutting  it  loose  on  the  next  bridge. 
The  smoke  of  the  "General"  plainly  evidenced  that 
she  was  fagging.  The  fugitives  abandoned  the 
engine  and  took  to  the  woods  in  a  westerly  direc- 
tion. Captain  Fuller  now  ran  up  and  coupled  on  to 
the  burning  car.  The  fire  was  extinguished  and  the 
car  sent  back  to  Ringgold  in  charge  of  the  engineer. 
As  Captain  Fuller  passed  Ringgold  he  noticed  some 
fifty  or  seventy-five  militia  mustering  and  sent  back 
word  to  the  commanding  officer  to  put  all  his 

MILITIA    ON    HORSEBACK 

and  send  them  into  the  woods  in  pursuit  of  the 
fugitives  as  quickly  as  possible.  This  was  about 
half  past  one  o'clock  p.m.  Although  jaded  and  fa- 
tigued, Captain  Fuller,  Anthony  Murphy,  Fleming 
Cox  and  Alonzo  Martin  took  to  the  woods  in  pur- 
suit. When  the  fugitives  abandoned  the  engine, 
Andrews,  their  leader,  said: 

"every  one  take  care  of   himself," 

and  they  left  in  squads  of  three  or  four.  Four  of 
them  were  run  down  in  the  fork  of  the  Chicka- 
mauga  River,  at  Graysville,  and  one  was  forcibly 
persuaded  to  tell  who  they  were.  The  militia, 
mounted    on    fresh    horses,    scoured    the    woods   that 


WILSON  W.   BROWN,  Corporal,  Company  F,  21st 

Ohio   Infantry,  member  of  the  Andrews 

Raiding   Party. 

Now   living  in   Farwell,  Mich. 


w  ***■* 


WILLIAM    H.    REDDICK,  Corporal. CompanyB. 

33d  Ohio  Infantry,  member  of  the  Andrews 

Raiding    Party. 

Died   in   Seventy-six  Township,    Muscatine   County, 

Iowa,  November  8,  1903. 


18 


The  Story  of  the  "General." 


afternoon,  and  in  a  few  days  the  last  of  the  fugitives 
were  captured. 

Later  there  was  a  trial  by  military  court,  and  eight 
of  the  number  were  executed  in  Atlanta  as  spies. 
Six  were  exchanged  and  eight  escaped  from  prison 
at  Atlanta.  Thus  ended  one  of  the  most  daring  ex- 
ploits on  record. 

There  were  twenty-two  men  engaged  in  the  en- 
terprise.    Twenty  of  them  were  from  Ohio  and  two 

from  Kentucky. 

#       *       * 

The  following  official  letter  received  from  the  War 
Department  is  reproduced,  on  account  of  the  valu- 
able information  it  contains  : 


NATIONAL   CEMETERY.    CHATTANOOGA.   TENN. 

RecorD  anD  pension  Office, 
MUat  ^Department. 

Washington  City,  February  18,  1003. 
Mr.  IV.  L.  Danley,  General  Passenger  Agent,  Nash- 
ville,   Chattanooga    &   St.    Louis   Railway,   Nash- 
zille,  Tenn. 

Dear  Sir:  In  response  to  your  letter  of  the  nth 
instant,  in  which  you  request  information  relative  to 
the  members  of  the  "Andrews  Raiders,"  this  infor- 
mation being  desired  for  use  on  the  tablets  that  are 
to  be  placed  on  the  engine  "General,"  that  was  used 
by  Andrews  and  his  followers  in  the  raid  made  by 
them  on  the  Confederate  line  of  communications 
south  of  Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  in  April,  1862,  I  have 
the  honor  to  advise  you  as  follows : 

It  appears  from  the  official  records  of  the  War 
Department  that  the   following  named  persons  par- 


The  Story  of  the  "Genera/."  19 


ticipated  in  the  raid  on  the  Confederate  line  of  com- 
munications between  Chattanooga,  Tennessee,  and 
Marietta,  Georgia,  April  7  to  12,  1862: 

Jas.  J.   Andrews,   leader,  citizen  of  Flemingsburg,   Ky. 
William   H.    Campbell,  citizen   of   Kentucky. 
Marion   A.    Ross,   Sergeant-Major,   2d   Ohio   Infantry. 
William  Pittenger,  Sergeant,  Company  G,  2d  Ohio  Infantry. 
George  D.  Wilson,  private,  Company  B,  2d  Ohio  Infantry. 
Charles  P.  Shadrach,  private,  Company  K,  2d  Ohio  Infantry. 
Elihu  H.  Mason,  Sergeant,  Company  K,  21st  Ohio  Infantry. 
John   M.    Scott,   Sergeant,   Company  F,  21st  Ohio  Infantry. 
Wilson  W.  Brown,  Corporal,  Company  F,  21st  Ohio  Infantry. 
Mark   Wood,  private,  Company   C,  21st  Ohio  Infantry. 
John  A.  Wilson,  private,  Company  C,  21st  Ohio  Infantry. 
William  Knight,  private,   Company  E,  21st  Ohio  Infantry. 
John  R.   Porter,  private,  Company  G,  21st  Ohio  Infantry. 
William  Bensinger,  private,  Company  G,  21st  Ohio  Infantry. 
Robert  Buffum,   private,  Company   H,  21st  Ohio   Infantry. 
Martin  J.  Hawkins,  Corporal,  Company  A,  33d  Ohio  Infantry. 
Wm.  H.  Reddick,  Corporal,  Company  B,  33d  Ohio  Infantry. 
Daniel  A.  Dorsey,  Corporal,  Company  H,  33d  Ohio  Infantry. 
John  Wollam,  private,   Company  C,   33d   Ohio   Infantry. 
Samuel   Slavens,  private,   Company  E,  33d  Ohio  Infantry. 
Samuel   Robertson,  private,  Company  G,  33d  Ohio  Infantry. 
Jacob  Parrott,  private,  Company  K,  33d  Ohio  Infantry. 

It  further  appears  that  eight  of  these  men,  whose 
names  appear  below,  were  executed  by  the  Con- 
federate authorities  at  Atlanta,  Ga.,  in  June,  1862: 
Andrews  on  June  7,  and  Campbell,  Ross,  George  D. 
Wilson,  Shadrach,  Scott,  Slavens  and  Robertson  on 
June  18.  On  October  16,  1862,  the  eight  following 
named  made  their  escape  from  prison  at  Atlanta, 
Ga. :  Brown,  Wood,  John  A.  Wilson,  Knight,  Porter, 
Hawkins,  Dorsey  and  Wollam.  The  remaining  six 
members  of  the  raiding  party  were  paroled  at  City 
Point,  Va.,  March  17,  1863.  Their  names  follow: 
Pittenger,  Mason,  Bensinger,  Buffum,  Reddic  and 
Parrott. 

On  March  25,  1863,  medals  of  honor  were  pre- 
sented to  the  last  mentioned  (paroled)  soldiers  in 
person  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  were  the  first 
medals  of  honor  awarded  under  the  authority  con- 
ferred by  the  joint  resolution  of  Congress  approved 
July  12,  1862.  and  Section  6  of  the  sundry  civil  ap- 
propriation Acts  of  March  3,  1863.  The  men  who 
escaped  from  prison  in  October,  1862,  were  also 
subsequently  awarded  medals.  Of  those  who  had 
been  executed,  medals  were  delivered  to  the  mother 
of  Ross  and  to  the  widows  of  Scott  and  Slavens.  In 
the  case  of  Robertson  a  medal  was  also  issued,  but  to 
whom  it  was  delivered  cannot  now  be  ascertained. 

Very  respectfully, 

(Signed)  F.  C.  Ainsworth, 

Chief  Record  and  Pension  Office. 

The  survivors  of  the  Andrews  Raiders  have 
erected  a  monument  to  their  fallen  comrades,  and 
it  stands  today  in  the  National  Cemetery  at  Chat- 
tanooga. (See  cut  on  page  II.)  The  "General"  is 
reproduced  in  miniature  on  top  of  the  monument, 
and  on  the  left  hand  side  is  a  die  containing  the 
names  of  the  "Raiders"  who  were  executed  in  At- 
lanta; on  the  right  hand  side  a  die  containing  the 
names  of  the  eight  who  escaped  from  prison  at  At- 
lanta; and  at  the  rear  a  die  containing  the  names  of 
those  exchanged. 


SAMUEL    SLAVEXS,    Private,    Company   E,    33d 
Ohio  Infantry,  member  of  the  Andrews 

Raiding   Party. 
Executed  in  Atlanta,   Ga.,  June    18,    1862. 


TiUMtei 


ANTHONY    MURPHY,   Foreman   of  the  W.   &   A. 
R.    R.   Shops  in   1862,  member  of  Capt.   Fuller's 
Pursuing    Party. 
living  in   Atlanta,   Ga. 


The  Story  of  the  "General:'  21 

Two  monuments,  with  tablets,  have  also  been 
erected  by  the  Nashville,  Chattanooga  &  St.  Louis 
Railway,  one  marking  the  spot  at  which  the  "Gen- 
eral" was  captured  and  the  other  where  it  was  aban- 
doned. A  third  tablet  has  been  erected  in  front 
of  the  engine  "General''  in  Chattanooga. 

Mr.  Pittenger,  in  his  book,  "Capturing  a  Loco- 
motive," says :  "We  obstructed  the  track  as  well  as 
we  could  by  laying  on  crossties  at  different  places. 
We  also  cut  the  wires  between  every  station.  Fi- 
nally, when  we  were  nearly  to  the  station  where  we 
expected  to  meet  the  last  train,  we  stopped  to  take 
up  a  rail.  We  had  no  instruments  but  a  crowbar, 
and  instead  of  pulling  out  the  spikes,  as  we  could 
have  done  with  the  pinch  bars  used  for  that  pur- 
pose by  railroad  men,  we  had  to  batter  them  out. 
Just  as  we  were  going  to  relinquish  the  effort,  the 
whistle  of  an  engine  in  pursuit  sounded  in  our  ears. 
With  one  convulsive  effort  we  broke  the  rail  in  two, 
took  up  our  precious  half  rail  and  left.  We  were 
scarcely  out  of  sight  of  the  place  where  we  had  taken 
up  the  half  rail  before  the  other  train  met  us.  This 
was  safely  passed.  When  our  pursuers  came  up  to 
the  place  where  the  broken  rail  was  taken  up,  they 
abandoned  their  engine  and  ran  on  foot  till  they 
met  the  freight  train  and  turned  it  back  after  us. 
We  adopted  every  expedient  we  could  think  of  to 
delay  pursuit,  but  as  we  were  cutting  the  wire  near 
Calhoun  they  came  in  sight  of  us.  We  instantly 
put  our  engine  to  full  speed,  and  in  a  moment  the 
wheels  were  striking  fire  from  the  rails  in  their 
rapid  revolutions.  The  car  in  which  we  rode  rocked 
furiously  and  threw  us  from  one  side  to  the  other 
like  peas  rattled  in  a  gourd.  I  then  proposed  to 
Andrews  to  let  our  engineer  take  the  engine  out  of 
sight,  while  we  hid  in  a  curve,  after  putting  a  cross- 
tie  on  the  track;  when  they  checked  to  remove  the 
obstructions,  we  could  rush  on  them,  shoot  every 
person  on  the  engine,  reverse  it,  and  let  it  drive 
backward  at  will." 

The  Southern  Confederacy,  a  paper  published  at 
Atlanta  at  the  time,  says :  "The  fugitives,  not  ex- 
pecting pursuit,  quietly  took  in  wood  and  water  at 
Cass  Station  and  borrowed  a  schedule  from  the  tank 
tender  upon  the  plausible  pretext  that  they  were  run- 
ning a  pressed  train  loaded  with  powder  for  Beau- 
regard." 

The  article  further  states :  "They  had  on  the  en- 
gine a  red  handkerchief,  indicating  that  the  regular 
passenger  train  would  be  along  presently.  They 
stopped  at  Adairsville  and  said  that  Fuller,  with  the 
regular  passenger  train,  was  behind,  and  would  wait 


HENRY  P.   HANEY,  member  of  Capt.  Fuller's 

Pursuing   Party. 

Now   living   in   Atlanta,  Ga. 

Ass't   Chief   of  the   Atlanta   Fire  Department. 


PETER  J.  BRACKEN,  member  of  Capt.  Fuller's 

Pursuing   Party. 

Now  living  in  Macon,   Ga. 


The  Story  of  the  "General."  23 


at  Kingston  for  the  freight  train,  and  told  the  con- 
ductor to  push  ahead  and  meet  him  at  that  point. 
This  was  done  to  produce  a  collision  with  Captain 
Fuller's  train.  When  the  morning  freight  reached 
Big  Shanty,  Lieutenant-Colonels  R.  F.  Maddox  and 
C.  D.  Phillips,  took  the  engine,  and  with  fifty  picked 
men,  followed  on  as  rapidly  as  possible.  Captain 
Fuller  on  his  return  met  them  at  Tunnel  Hill  and 
turned  them  back.  Peter  Bracken,  the  engineer 
on  the  freight  train,  ran  his  engine  fifty  and  a  half 
miles — two  of  them  backing  the  whole  freight  train 
up  to  Adairsville — made  twelve  stops,  coupled  the 
two  cars  dropped  by  the  fugitives,  and  switched  them 
off  on  sidings  in  one  hour  and  five  minutes.  Captain 
Fuller  fully  corroborates  the  invaluable  service  ren- 
dered by  the  veteran  Bracken." 

In  his  evidence  at  the  trial,  Pittenger  stated  that 
one  of  the  party  proposed  to  stop  the  engine  in  a 
short  curve,  ambuscade  and  kill  Fuller  and  his  men 
as  he  came  up,  but  Andrews  would  not  agree  to 
it.  He  also  stated  that  when  the  "General"  gave 
out,  they  were  burning  oil  cans,  tool  boxes,  and 
planks  ripped  off  the  freight  car.  As  they  abandoned 
her,  they  reversed  her,  in  order  to  bring  on  a  col- 
lision with  Captain  Fuller's  engine,  but  in  their  ex- 
citement they  left  the  brake  on  the  tender,  and  the 
steam  had  not  sufficient  force  to  back  the  engine. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  "GENERAL." 

We  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Louis  L.  Park,  Chief 
Draughtsman  of  the  Rogers  Locomotive  Works, 
Patterson,  N.  J.,  for  the  following  information  in 
regard  to  the  "General,"  taken  from  the  plans  and 
specifications  of  that  company: 

Built  by  the  Rogers  Locomotive  Works  in  De- 
cember, 1855,  for  the  Western  &  Atlantic  R.  R.  An 
eight-wheel,  wood-burning  locomotive  of  type  440-50, 
weighing  50,300  pounds;  gauge,  5  feet;  cylinders, 
15x22  inches;  piston  rod  2  1-4  inches  in  diameter; 
has  four  driving  wheels,  each  60  inches  in  diame- 
ter, made  of  cast  iron,  with  journals  6  inches  in 
diameter;  driving  wheel  base,  7  inches;  total  wheel 
base  of  engine,  about  20  feet,  6  inches ;  weight  on 
drivers,  32,000  pounds;  weight  on  truck,  18,000 
pounds ;  heating  surface :  flues,  748.38  square  feet ; 
fire-box,  71.08  square  feet;  total  heating  surface, 
819.44  square  feet.  Grate  area,  12.46  square  feet. 
Boiler  of  type  known  as  Wagon  Top,  covered  with 
felt  and  Russia  iron ;  diameter  inside  first  course,  40 
inches ;  working  pressure,  about  140  pounds ;  thick- 
ness of  barrel  of  boiler,  5-16  of  an  inch;  thickness  of 
dome  course,  3-8  of  an  inch;  fire-box:  thickness  of 
shell,  3-8  and  5-16  of  an  inch;  thickness  of  crown, 


24  Ike  Story  of  the  "General" 

3-8  of  an  inch;  thickness  of  flue-sheet,  1-2  an  inch; 
thickness  of  sides  and  back,  5-16  of  an  inch;  length 
of  grate,  46  inches;  width  39  inches.  Contains  130 
flues,  each  11  feet  long  by  2  inches  in  diameter. 
Steam-pipes  5  inches  in  diameter.  Engine  truck,  4- 
wheel,  rigid  center;  tender  trucks,  4-wheel,  inside 
bearing.  Diameter  of  wheels,  30  inches.  Has  2  es- 
cape valves  and  2  pumps.  The  smoke  stack  is  of  the 
old  balloon  type,  and  the  cow-catcher  is  much  longer 
and  larger  than  those  on  modern  engines. 

The  following  article,  which  appeared  in  the  Kennesaw 
"Gazette"  of  March,  1886,  shows  that  the  old  "General"  has 
had  an  eventful  life. 

"This  famous  locomotive  is  still  on  the  Western 
and  Atlantic  Railroad,  pulling  a  train.  She  is  one  of 
"the  old  issue/'  but  is  retained  in  service,  although 
her  capacity  is  rather  limited,  when  compared  with 
the  big  "ten-wheelers"  and  other  modern  locomo- 
tives which  the  ever  wide-awake  IV e stern  &  Atlantic 
Railroad  Company  now  possess. 

"It  is  a  matter  of  national  knowledge  that  the 
'General'  was  captured  by  twenty-two  Federal  sol- 
diers in  disguise,  April  12,  1862,  at  Big  Shanty,  and 
the  attempt  was  made  by  them  to  escape  with  her 
and  burn  the  bridges  on  the  W .  &  A.  R.  R.}  etc. 
Their  chase  from  Big  Shanty  to  a  point  near  Ring- 
gold, and  the  capture  of  the  entire  party  are  well 
known  facts. 

"It  is  not  known,  however,  that  the  'General'  was 
almost  under  tire  of  the  Federal  batteries  at  the 
great  battle  of  Kennesaw  Mountain,  June  27,  1864, 
When  the  battle  began  during  the  early  morning 
General  Johnston  sent  up  a  train  load  of  ammunition, 
etc.,  to  the  Confederate  lines  at  the  eastern  base  of 
Kennesaw  Mountain.  The  ammunition,  etc.,  was 
unloaded  and  carried  to  the  front  as  quickly  as  pos- 
sible, but  the  engine  and  train  were  detained  at  that 
point,  by  order  of  General  Johnston,  to  carry  back 
the  wounded  at  the  close  of  the  battle.  During  the 
entire  morning  the  'General'  and  her  train  stood  at 
the  point  where  now  is  the  station  Elizabeth,  and 
some  of  the  Federal  bomb-shells,  Hying  over  the  Con- 
federate entrenchments,  exploded  almost  in  her 
neighborhood.  In  the  afternoon  wounded  soldiers 
from  Featherstone's  Division,  and  others  in  that  por- 
tion of  the  field,  were  placed  aboard  the  train,  and 
the  'General1  brought  them  down  to  Marietta,  and 
thence  on  to  Atlanta. 

"The  'General'  was  also  the  last  IV.  &  A.  R.  R. 
engine  to  leave  Atlanta  when  Hood's  army  evacuated 
it,  and  it  was  thought  just  before  she  left  that  it 
would  be  impossible  to  take  her  away,  but  they  man- 
aged to  get  her  safely  out,  and  she  zvent  southward 
with  a  train  load  of  refugees,  war  material,  etc." 


Colored  Lithograph  of  the  "General"  for  10  Cts. 

A  beautiful  colored  lithograph  of  the  "General," 
size  18x25  inches,  will  be  mailed  to  any  address  for 
10  cents.  Addre-s  \V.  L.  Daxley,  General  Pass. 
Agent,  N.,  C.  &  St.  L.  Ry.,  Nashville,  Tenn. 


J*  Oft- 


